December 7 2007

Spyro the Dragon Released!?... for the PS3! - Actually it's been available for a while but I thought that since IGN was reviewing it I would make an issue of it. Spyro the Dragon can now be downloaded to your PS3 or PSP. In the review the writer complains about the camera mostly and the overall simplicity of the game. I wonder if he knows about the active camera setting. I don't have a PS3 so I cannot be sure his experience is the same as mine with the original PS1 version.

Source: IGN, PlayStation.com

December 2 2007

New Year of the Dragon code after 7 years! - PoloDewen on YouTube recently discovered a code in Spyro: Year of the Dragon that allows you to hear the dialog of all the characters in each level. Though codes are not usually news worthy, I find it interesting that it has been discovered 7 years after the release of the game. It makes you wonder if there are other secrets Insomniac has not told us about.

From the menu screen:

After you enter the code you will see "Type: 0" and "Msg: 0" at the bottom of the screen and you will hear the level music playing. Press up or downs and you will hear somebody start talking. Type seems to indicate a particular character while Msg is each message that character says in the current level. Yes, it only lets you hear dialog from the current level.

To quit you need to enter the code again, but then the Music will be replaced by the last dialog you chose and will loop continuously until you go to another level/sub-area.

Of particular interest is when you go to Sunrise Spring and select "Type: 200 Msg: 0". This is meant to play when the game detects that you are using a hacked copy.

November 29 2007

What to do? - I have been asked why there are no sections on the "Legend of Spyro" series. Well there has been some debate on the connection between the LOS story and the original Spyro story which was made worse by the contradictory statements form Sierra and Krome. There was a possibility that LOS was just a prequel to Spyro the Dragon prior to the release of "The Eternal Night". However "The Eternal Night" reintroduces a character that Spyro does not meet until Spyro 2, which makes connecting the stories awkward at best.

So it seems in LOS we have a whole new Spyro in another universe. The name of this site is called "Spyro Universe" not "Spyro Universes" and since there does not seem to be any connection to the original there does not seem to be any reason to cover it on this site, unless someone would like to explain how it is connected.

Spyro in the hands of Krome - I will take a moment now to express my opinion of "The Legend of Spyro" series.

A New Beginning - This was a very well made game with a good story. It tells the story of the origin of a purple Dragon named Spyro, how he was saved from being killed as an egg, set adrift down a river and raised by Dragonflies, kinda like Moses (except for the Dragonfly part). Spyro discovers more about the Dragons as the story progresses.

Spyro in this game gains four elemental breath abilities but since these consume magical energy he is often left to using melee attacks, of which he has quite a few. Early on the physical moves are more effective anyway. The game is extremely linear with no option to revisit worlds. It is also extremely short. The is a lot of fighting and few minor puzzles to solve and no minigames except for a couple rail shooter/flight levels, which I found very disappointing. There are also no additional playable characters.

There is not much replay value here other than that you can start the game over with all the abilities you ended with. There are a couple codes, if you just like breezing through the hard parts, and one unlockable video for finishing the game once. The ending does have a nice twist but nothing original.

The Eternal Night - This game continues the story of A New Beginning. Spyro must find the defeat the Ape King, Gaul, before he brings back the Dark Master. The story is good but kinda slow till near the end when it gets quite interesting. Spyro has lost most of his power from the previous episode and must now re-master the 4 elements in new ways. He also gains the ability to slow time down.

Unfortunately it is not to the same standards as the first. The frame rate lags and gets pretty bad during high action segments. (Not as bad as ETD) The controls are sluggish for the level of action. The in game cutscenes are sloppy and choppy. The audio is not mixed well. Sound FX and ambient sound often over powers dialog. And as pointed out by IGN and other reviewers, cheap death abounds.

Finally - Krome & Vivendi have done their best to narrow the appeal of Spyro from nearly universal to a finely tuned and marketed jugernaut almost solely for the teenage market. While Spyro's fan community was made up primarily of civilized human beings, these games have attracted a more belligerent element. Of course that will probably make K and V lots of money. Don't get me wrong, the LOS series is fun at times and has a good story. I'll probably not be putting much more on this site about LOS as it seems to be another universe and I'm not done with the first one yet. :)

October 2 2007

Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night Released.

July 15 2007

Hands-on Eternal Night at GameSpy

July 06 2007

Eternal Night Press Release

Sunday July 1 2007

PS2, Wii, DS, GBA

June 22 2007

Official Eternal Nite Site

June 2 2007

Various Eternal Night Rumours - The next Spyro has not yet been officially announced but there are many rumours floating about.

Spyro: The Eternal Night is listed on 2 ratings board websites. Both only list a GBA version.

1. ESRB (USA)
2. USK (German) Test Date: April 17 2007

Actor David R. Jarrott has "The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night" listed as one of his voice acting credits. The project is described as a "CD ROM". His role is "Narrator" and he did this for AMAZE Entertainment who made Shadow Legacy and ANB for Nintendo DS. See his portfolio here.

Other Evidence:

Some people are taking preorders for Eternal Night:

Konsolinet (DS,GBA,PS2,Wii: Nov 2 2007)
CDUniverse (GBA, DS: Oct 3 2007, PS2: Oct 10 2007)

I emailed CDUniverse and this is what they said:

"As of now our suppliers have confirmed the release date for "Spyro: Eternal Night" for Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS for October 3, and for PS2 on October 10. Any further information we may receive on this title will be posted on our site as soon as it is available."

Codename Revolution was the first to mention the game and claimed they got info from a distributor contact about a new Spyro for the wii in 2007. They later mentioned the title "Spyro: The Eternal Night" and said the game would be on DS, GBA, PS2 and PSP

February 2nd, 2007
March 15th, 2007 Oct 2007

Rumor Reporter has a list of games posted by a Bruce Kelly that he got "at a corporate meeting for a major rental chain" "Spyro - The Eternal Night" is listed for DS, PSP and wii.

Release:
Wii: Oct 9 2007
Psp: Nov 12 2007

March 21st, 2007

Thank you Willy Wumpa Cheeks, dark52 and Rexy for providing links.